The present invention relates to hearing aids. In particular, the present invention pertains to systems and structures for correctly and consistently locating hearing aids relative to the ear anatomy of a user.
Hearing aids on the market today are available in different mounting configurations. Many hearing aids include a behind-the-ear (“BTE”) portion which, as the name implies, is mounted behind the user's ear, with the ear supporting the weight of some or all the hearing aid components, including primarily the weight of the battery and amplifier and associated housing. Many BTE hearing aids include a sound tube which extends into the user's ear canal. Other hearing aids are considered in-the-ear (“ITE”) hearing aids with some or all of the weight of the hearing aid supported in the conchae bowl of the user's ear. Many hearing aids also include a portion which resides in the user's ear canal, including receiver-in-canal (“RIC”) hearing aids which have only the receiver of the hearing aid in the ear canal, in-the-canal (“ITC”) hearing aids which extend largely into the ear canal for support but include a portion outside the ear canal, or completely-in-canal (“CIC”) hearing aids which reside entirely in the user's ear canal. Some ITC and CIC hearing aids have used a flexible retrieval line for removing the hearing aid from the ear canal.
Hearing aid placement is important for best sound quality and best comfort of the hearing aid. For BTE and ITE hearing aids, the location is driven mostly by comfort and aesthetics. Aesthetically, most users desire a hearing aid which is as inconspicuous as possible. Because sound quality is somewhat dependent upon proximity of the hearing aid's sound outlet to the eardrum, placement (depth of canal insertion) affects sound quality more heavily in ITC and CIC hearing aids.
Part of the difficulty in designing hearing aids is that the anatomical shapes of different users' ears are not uniform. To achieve accurate and consistent placement in the desired location relative to a user's eardrum, many hearing aids use a custom shell which is custom shaped to fit that particular user's shape of ear anatomy. However, customization of the shell involves significant costs which can be avoided with a less customized solution.
For many RIC, ITC and CIC non-custom hearing aids, placement is largely set by the user, i.e., the user pushes the hearing aid (or canal portion) into the ear canal sufficiently far that it comfortably seats in a desired ear canal location by biasing off the wall of the ear canal. A large part of the consistent placement of such RIC, ITC and CIC non-custom hearing aids relies on the gradually decreasing diameter of the ear canal, i.e., the user pushes the hearing aid into the canal until it feels snug but not overly tight. As more hearing aid solutions become available, proper placement methods for non-custom hearing aids that do not rely on “snugness” in the ear canal are needed.